Leading Iranian Reformist Demands his Release from Prison

A leading Iranian opposition figure, jailed for taking part in a controversial political seminar abroad, has demanded his release from prison.

A leading Iranian opposition figure jailed for taking part in a controversial political seminar abroad has demanded his release from prison, his lawyer said in a statement received by AFP on Thursday.

Ezzatollah Sahabi is still in prison although all others arrested for participating in the Berlin seminar that shocked Iranian conservatives have since been freed on bail, his lawyer said.

The April seminar, sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Foundation and deemed "anti-Islamic" by authorities in Tehran, included speakers opposed to Iran's Islamic government, a woman who danced with bare arms and a man who disrobed.

The detention of Sahabi, a leading figure in Iran's progressive opposition, sparked widespread outrage among politicians and academics who drafted an open letter in July calling for his unconditional release.

They called Sahabi "a moderate-minded patriot and longstanding fighter."

His secular, progressive Iran-e Farda (Iran Tomorrow) monthly was closed down in April as part of a widespread crackdown by the conservative courts on the reformist press - TEHRAN (AFP)